Joseph Tkach, Jr.

Infobox Person
name=Joseph W. Tkach, Jr.


image_size = 150px
caption=Joseph Tkach, Jr. president and pastor general of the Worldwide Church of God (WCG)

Joseph Tkach, Jr. (pronounced "Tuh-cotch") is president and pastor general of the Worldwide Church of God (WCG), an evangelical Christian denomination based in Glendora, Calif. [http://www.wcg.org Worldwide Church of God Home Page ] ] Since assuming his responsibilities in 1995, Tkach has overseen a period of radical change in the WCG that began during the administration of his father, Joseph W. Tkach. Once a strict Sabbatarian organization that denied the Trinity, required observance of Old Testament law and adhered to Anglo-Israelism, the church has abandoned those and other teachings in favor of a doctrine of salvation by grace through faith. [ [http://www.wcg.org/lit/aboutus/beliefs/default.htm Worldwide Church of God Statement of Beliefs ] ]

Background

Joseph Tkach, Jr. was born on December 23, 1951, in Chicago, Illinois. He spent most of his childhood in Chicago until his parents moved to Pasadena, California in 1966. He attended the WCG's private university, Ambassador College, from 1969 to 1973, when he received a bachelor of arts degree in theology. He was ordained a minister of the church in 1976. [ [http://www.wcg.org/PastorGeneral/default.htm Administrative Leadership of the Worldwide Church of God ] ]

From 1976 to 1984, he was mainly involved in social work initially with a private agency working on rehabilitation programs for juvenile delinquents and later for the state of Arizona serving the developmentally disabled.

Tkach married Jill Hockwald in 1973. That marriage ended in divorce in 1978. Tkach married his second wife Tammy in 1980 and they have a son, Joseph Tkach III, and a daughter, Stephanie.

He received a masters degree in business administration from Western International University in Phoenix, Ariz., in 1984. From 1984 to 1986 he worked for Intel Corporation in Phoenix, Arizona, where he supervised the corporate services training department.

Before WCG founder Herbert W. Armstrong died in 1986, Armstrong had appointed Tkach's father to be the succeeding pastor general of the church. Joseph Tkach Jr. was hired to assist his father in the WCG's church administration department, eventually becoming director. In 1990, he was ordained as one of the Evangelists of the Worldwide Church of God (historically, one of the highest ranking ministers under the Pastor General), one of the last of which to be so ordained. When the elder Tkach became ill in 1995, he likewise appointed his son to succeed him in the event of his death, which occurred that September. [ [http://www.hwarmstrong.com/ar/AR60.html October 1995 (AR60) ] ]

Tkach received a doctor of ministry degree from Azusa Pacific University in Azusa, Calif., in May 2000. He is on the board of directors of Plain Truth Ministries [http://www.ptm.org Welcome to PTM ! ] ] (publishers of The Plain Truth magazine), and the National Association of Evangelicals.

Following his father’s initiatives

As pastor general and with the support of several key leaders in the church, Joseph Tkach Jr. continued the doctrinal transformation of the WCG that had begun under his father. In the process, he encountered a mixture of acceptance and resistance from members within the church. External acceptance came from other ministries, but there were also skeptics who were not convinced the church had gone far enough with its changes.

Aided by several influential individuals within mainstream Christian churches, the WCG was able to forge positive relationships with other Christian organizations and individuals. These individuals included Hank Hanegraaf, president of the Christian Research Institute and a leader of the Christian countercult movement, and Ruth Tucker, who wrote an article [ [http://www.wcg.org/lit/AboutUs/media/fringe.htm From the Fringe to the Fold: from Christianity Today ] ] on the changes in the WCG that appeared in the July 15, 1996 issue of Christianity Today.

The WCG became a member of the National Association of Evangelicals in 1997. That same year, Tkach published a book outlining the process of transformation in the WCG. "Transformed by Truth" is now out of print, but is available for online reading at the WCG Web site. [http://www.wcg.org/lit/booklets/truth/]

While Tkach remains a board member of Plain Truth Ministries, it is now a separate ministry headed by Greg Albrecht. The magazine, a once-formidable arm of the WCG's media empire, has been radically altered. Where Armstrong printed millions of copies monthly and distributed the publication free, The Plain Truth is now a subscription-based magazine with a modest circulation.

Tkach also produces regular video commentaries, titled "Speaking of Life," that are available on the WCG Web site.

Footnotes

References

*Tkach Jr., Joseph, Transformed by Truth, Multnomah, 1997, ISBN 1-57673-181-2.
*Worldwide Church of God, Administrative Leadership, http://www.wcg.org/pastorgeneral/tkach.htm

External links

* [http://www.wcg.org Worldwide Church of God official website]
* [http://www.hwarmstrong.com/ar/index.htm Ambassador Report]
###@@@KEY@@@###succession box
title=Pastor General of the Worldwide Church of God
before=Joseph W. Tkach
after=-
years=1995–Present